Community Outreach

Community Outreach

The FBI’s Community Outreach Program supports the Bureau’s investigative mission by working to address multiple interrelated societal problems—including crime, drugs, gangs, terrorism, and violence. Linking community service, prevention, and law enforcement is a national trend spurred by grass roots efforts around the country, and FBI employees have joined this movement, volunteering in a wide variety of community-related efforts.

Social Media Outreach

Citizens Academy

The Citizens Academy is an engaging six-to-eight-week program that gives business, religious, civic, and community leaders an inside look at the FBI. Classes meet in the evening at the FBI field office. The mission of the FBI Citizens Academy is to foster a greater understanding of the role of federal law enforcement in the community through frank discussion and education.

Candidates are nominated by FBI employees, former Citizens Academy graduates, and community leaders. Participants are selected by the special agent in charge of the local FBI field office.

To Apply

The next FBI Seattle Field Office Citizens Academy will be held during April to June 2019. If you are interested in applying—or if you are a Citizens Academy graduate or past/present FBI employee who would like to recommend someone you know—please submit an online nomination form by January 18, 2019. For questions, please contact Rebeca Olvera at reolvera@fbi.gov.

Director's Community Leadership Award

Since 1990, the Director’s Community Leadership Awards has been the principal means for the FBI to publicly recognize achievements of individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to education and the prevention of crime and violence in their communities. Each field office nominates an individual or organization for the award, and, once selected, the recipients are invited to a ceremony and reception at FBI Headquarters.

Child ID App

The Child ID app—the first mobile application created by the FBI—provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your children on your smartphone (note: no information is stored or collected by the FBI). In the event your child goes missing, users can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot. Using a special tab on the app, users can also quickly and easily e-mail the information to authorities.

The app also includes tips on keeping children safe, as well as specific guidance on what to do in those first few crucial hours after a child goes missing.

FBI SOS

FBI-SOS is a free, fun, and informative program that promotes cyber citizenship by educating students in third to eighth grades on the essentials of online security. For teachers, the site provides a ready-made curriculum that meets state and federal Internet safety mandates, complete with online testing and a national competition to encourage learning and participation. A secure online system enables teachers to register their schools, manage their classes, automatically grade their students’ exams, and request the test scores.

Anyone—young or old, in the U.S. or worldwide—can complete the activities on the FBI-SOS website. The testing and competition, however, are only open to students in grades 3-8 at public, private, or home schools in the U.S. or its territories.

The website makes teens aware of the destructive reality of various forms of violent extremism, including hateful attacks based on race, religion, or other factors. Through its Don’t Be a Puppet theme, the program encourages teens to think for themselves and display a healthy skepticism if they come across anyone who appears to be advocating extremist violence.

CREST

The FBI CREST (Community Relations Executive Seminar Training) is a shorter, more focused version of the FBI Citizens Academy Program and is conducted in partnership with a specific community group at an offsite location. The program is designed to build trust and strengthen relationships between the FBI and the communities we serve. Classes are taught by FBI executives, senior special agents, and program managers. Participants are selected by members of their organizations or community.

Speaker Requests

The Seattle FBI offers public speakers on a limited basis on a variety of topics pertaining to the Bureau’s investigative mission. All requests for speakers may be submitted online or in writing a minimum of four weeks prior to your presentation date. Requests are subject to availability.